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Z. W. -STURTEVANTI MACHINE PoR MBASURING PILLS.

Patented'Sept. y28, 1897.

No.v 590,635.

WIJEQE555 UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

ZOPHAR IV. STURTEVANT, OF LOIVELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES I. Hooi), oF SAME PLAGE.

MACHINE FoRME-AsURlNG P|| |.s.`

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettere Patent Ne.'59o,635, dated september aaien?.

Appneetieu ned August 3,1894.

T0 @ZZ 1071,07 t ln/ty concern: l

Be it known that I, ZOPHAR W. STURTE- VANT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth' of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Measuring Pills and Similar Articlesfof whichv the following is a speciiicles into a bottle, box, or other receptacle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an isometric perspective View of a machine constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same, omitting the driving-pulley; Fig. 3, a frontV elevation of the same, the hopper and a part of the frame being in vertical; central section; Fig. 4, a plan of said machine, omitting the cam, driving-pulley, and apart of the legs of the frame; Fig. 5, a vertical central Section of the discharge-tube, the adjacent part of the hopper, lower valve, and -fulcrum-clip, showing the valve-lever andA upper valve in side elevation and pills in the hopper and discharge-tube,

showing the upper valve open and the lower valve closed; Fig. 6, like Fig. 5, except that the upper valve is closed and the lower valve is held open by the neck of a bottle pressed against said lower valve, the bottle being represented in central section and lled with pills and the discharge-tube below the upper valve being empty; Fig. l 7, a plan of'a part of the hopper, showing the false hopper-bottom and the discharge-holes; Fig. 8, a horizontal section of the discharge-tube on the line 8 8 in Fig. 6, showing in'plan the valves, valve-lever, and fulcrum-clip; Fig. 9, a horizontal section on the line 9Y 9 in Fig. 5 of the discharge-tubes, ulcrum clip, valve lever, hollow lever-bearing screw and its nut, and a plan of the fulcrum-stud and its nut; Fig. l0, an elevation of the point or smaller end of the bearing-screw.

The frame A is represented as a circle ct, supserni No. 519,394.. me medew ported upon stout legs al ct, which rest upon the floor. Within au annular flange a2 on the circle a is held a vertical hollow cylinder B, provided with a false bottom C,y convex on its upper surface and having at its edge discharge-holes c, each, large` enough to allow pills Por similar articles contained in the hopper to'l pass singly through said false bottom. The false bottom C is secured to a central vertical spindle D, the lower end of which turns in a vertical socket a3, cast oriotherwise centrally secured on the top of the circle a, while the upper end of said spindle turns in ahole e in a cross-piece E, secured to the top of the cylinder B,"an d is provided with a rigid horizontal arm d, the `free end ofgwhich enters a fork f at the upper end of a lever F, pivoted at f on a standy a4, cast or otherwise secured on the frame A. The lower end of the lever F is forked at f2 vand ustraddles an eccentric G, fast on the hub h of the drivingpulley H, said eccentric and pulley turning on a stud a5, secured to the frame A.

The pulley H, when driven by a belt from any usual motor, will obviously cause a reciprocating rotary movement of the false bottom C, keeping the contents of the cylinder from packing together and causing the re- 'maining contents to descend in the cylinder as the lower portion of said contents is removed, as hereinafter described.

The circle is provided withfperforations CLG, arranged at the same distance from the center of said circle as the holesc in the false bottom. In each perforation co6 is removably secured a vertical discharge-tube I of a suitable internal diameter to allowa single vertical row of pills P to pass freely down through said tube, said tube I'having an externallyscrew-threaded upper end t', which enters the correspondingly internally-threaded hole d6.

A fulcrum-clip J consists of a bracket or arm j, provided with `a split ring j', adapted to embrace the discharge-tube and having ears j2, which are drawn together by a'screw js in a well-known manner (sufficiently indicated in Fig. 9) to cause said ring to pinch said tube. It is evident that by loosening the screw L7'3 the fulcrum-clip .I may be adjusted vertically on the dischargetube I. A fulcrum-bolt K has a reduced screw-threaded IOO point 7.', which passes through the army' and is retained therein by a nut 7a. On the stud K freely turns a hollow screw L, provided with an enlarged head Z, Fig. l0, having a central ridge Z on its under surface of a sufiicient width to fill the slot fm. of the valve-lever M and of a thickness not greater than the thickness of said lever M at the sides of said slot m. A nut Z2 turns on the small end of said screw L, causing said valve-lever M to be securely clamped between said head Zandv said nut Z2, s0 that said screw L serves as an adjustable hub for said valve-lever, inasmuch as the lever may be moved the length of its slot m on said screw when said nut Z2 is loosened. (See Fig. 5).)

The upper end of the valve-lever is bent at right angles to the body of said lever to form the upper valve fm', and when the lever is turned into the position shown in Fig. G enters a vertical slot t" and prevents the descent of any pills which may be above said upper valve. To the valve-lever, near the lower end thereof, is secured the lower valve, the same being a block m2, having a hole m3, through which said valve-lever' passes, said lower valve being held at the desired height on said lever by a set-screw mi, which turns in said lower valve and' thrusts radially against said lever, s0 that by loosening said screw mL said lower valve may be adjusted vertically on said valve-lever. rl`he free end or front end of the valve is concaved, Fig. 9, to approximately it the neck of a bottle.

The valves are normally held in the positions shown in Fig. 5 (the lower valve below and stopping the lower end of the corresponding discharge-tube and the upper valve open or withdrawn from said tube) by means of a spring in", compressed between the upper arm of the valve-lever and the dischargetube. A vertical sight-slot E in the front side of cach discharge-tube enables the operator to see whether the pills are passing through said discharge-tube.

In practice two or more tubes may be arranged at opposite sides of the machine for the use of two operators. lil-ach operator opens the lower valve by pushing the side of a box or the neck of a bottle against the same, Fig. G, rocking the valve-lever, closing the upper valve simultaneously with the opening of the lower valve, and discharging the pills below the upper valve into said box or bottle. Vhen the bottle is drawn away from the lower valve, the latter closes a-nd the upper valve opens.

By adjusting the fulcruu'i-clip on the discharge-tube, the valve-lever on the screw L, and the lower valve on the valve-lever the number of pills or other articles delivered at each `movement of the valves may be increased or diminished.

I claim as my invention- The combination of the hopper, provided with a bottom having holes, the false bottom, having a reciprocating rotary motion therein and provided with holes,discharge-tubes leading from the holes of said hopper and each provided with connected upper and lower valves, each adapted to open when the other is being closed, and a spring, to close normally said lower valve, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, this 31st of July, A. I). 1894.

ZOIHAR W. STURTEVANT. lVitnesses:

ALBERT M. Moons, KIRKLEY HYDE. 

